Aliens #3 1988 (From the Aliens 30th Anniversary Hardcover)

Written by: Mark Verheiden

Illustrations and Cover Art by: Mark A. Nelson

Aliens #3 drops us into the nightmare realm again. Patient interviews reveal people are dreaming about the xenomorphs, and those affected are all found in a specific geographic area. Likowski, the pilot who was “rescued” from decompression by a facehugger, awakens in a company lab. The best scene in the book is when the doctors are discussing the ethics of telling him what is going to happen, and decide to do so based on their desire to observe his reactions in response to the news, and impending birth. There is not any discussion on whether to attempt to remove the creature.

Salvaje, the xeno cultist leader, discusses the miracle of carrying a child with his wife/girlfriend. He wants to know what it feels like, and in the context of this series, it makes for a very creepy moment. He then goes to his broadcasting studio, and beats his technician who is getting cold feet about the transmissions. Salvaje warns the tech, “Don’t be afraid of the government. Be afraid of me.” Meanwhile, Massey preps his team to board the Benedict, with no survivors as one of their primary objectives. We learn they have been receiving communications from their target.

Hicks gets reprimanded for stowing Newt aboard the Benedict, but Stephens backs off when the corporal threatens him over the colonel’s own violations of protocol. One of the crewman is murdered in the most spectacular sequence in the story up to this point. The crewman stumbles upon a traitor, and is stabbed through the neck with a broken piece of pipe. It doesn’t immediately kill him. The attacker stuffs him into a space suit, tosses a grenade in the zipper, and blows him out of the airlock. The man struggles to get the grenade out, but fails and is blown into a million pieces while Hicks and the other crew watch helplessly on the monitor. Now the marines have a new threat to deal with on an already suicidal mission.

Back on Earth, Likowski is about to give birth to an alien. He goes into a rage, and manages to take a gun from one of the lab technicians and shoots his way out. He steals a car, runs down a security officer, avoids a helicopter attack, and makes it back to his wife. They take off in a small aircraft, but when Likowski looks at her, she has turned into an alien. Likowski awakens from his dream. He reaches for the gun, but is restrained. Horner, one of the execs from issue 2, decides he wants to see the birth first hand, and enters the lab. Likowski appears to be resisting the chestburster. Horner’s temper gets the better of him, and he grabs Likowski by the head and dresses him down over the importance of the alien. Likowski’s adrenaline fueled terror allows him to break a restraint, and he pulls Horner down to his chest. He tells the company man he can have it, and the chestburster tears through both men. Horner stumbles out of the lab, breaking containment. In the hallway, he succumbs to his wounds. A security officer draws a bead on the chestburster, but is shot dead by one of the company execs so the specimen can be preserved.

Overall, the art is very good, but Nelson stumbles in a few panels. In one, Newt’s wrist is bent at an improbable angle so she can hold a coffee cup. It looks very odd. In another, Likowski looks like an entirely new character from previous panels. I found it jarring, and it took me out of a riveting sequence. The rest of the art stands up very well. The gore and the impression of motion in the airlock scene made me feel like I was having a cinematic experience.

Verheiden’s writing, as usual, is superb. The focus on dreams and nightmares is a shift from the suspense and action of the first two films. It helps set the stage for the later issues in the series, while keeping it fresh.The dialog is again excellent. The scenarios keep you guessing, and are progressing toward something larger. He again leaves us with questions as to what is going to happen next. Who is the traitor? What is going to happen with the Alien now that it has truly reached Earth? How is the cult going to play into this?

Final Review: Highly Recommend

REIEW BY: SCOTT:

Scanners (1981) Review with Minor Spoilers

Scanners is a film remembered for its spectacular exploding head sequence. It’s a moment ingrained in film history, and a testament to practical effects versus modern CGI. David Cronenberg may have lucked out to have such a fantastic moment on screen, but the writing and performances are also memorable.

Scanners are people born with telepathic and telekinetic abilities. Their powers make them dangerous, and a security contractor called ConSec, has been studying and training scanners to use for espionage. The program is being threatened with closure while coming under a brutal string of attacks by a former ConSec asset, Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside). Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) must find and stop Revok.

The cast is very solid overall. Michael Ironside commands every scene he is in. He feels ruthless, menacing, intelligent, and lethal in almost every frame. Stephen Lack pales next to Ironside, but is still very believable. He showcases some range when he has to play a mentally disturbed, homeless man before sliding into the role of the reluctant hero. As Cameron Vale, he learns deep mysteries surrounding his abilities and his past. Patrick McGoohan turns in a good overall performance as ConSec’s head researcher, but really hams it up in the third act. Jennifer O’neill’s character suffers from having too little meaning to the overall plot, but she turns in a good performance. Lawrence Dane is effective, but his character falls into a few too many villain tropes.

The only drawback to the acting is the cast didn’t do very well when they were trying to mimic seizures while being affected by scanner abilities. Some of the extras and minor characters are comical to watch during these scenes, and the main cast only fares better by a small margin.

The finale is tense, sometimes unintentionally comical, full of great practical effects, and has several great twists. The end is a bit sudden, though. The gore is imaginative, and to reiterate, wonderful to watch. Any fan of sci-fi, or 80s cinema should include Scanners on their watch list.

Final Verdict: Recommend

REVIEW BY: SCOTT

Image Courtesy of: wrongsideoftheart

Aliens #2 1988 (From the Aliens 30th Anniversary Hardcover)

Written by: Mark Verheiden

Illustrations and Cover Art by: Mark A. Nelson

Aliens #2 begins with a misdirection. We feel like we are shown a facehugger victim’s thoughts, but, the panels slowly reveal a very interesting depiction of a developing Newt in her mother’s womb. The little human floats in a sea of fleshy tendrils and folds as her mother’s voice penetrates the realm with a lullaby. It's a beautiful, powerful piece of work. Newt, under the effects of Thoradin, is reflecting on her ordeal at Hadley’s Hope. She is contemplating the bleakness of space, and humanity trying to escape its own nature, but retreating to the primal warmth of our bodies.

Verheiden takes the probable real-world human expansion into space, and all the optimism attached to our expectations of opportunity, and brings that notion to its knees, reminding us of the cold, desolate nature of the universe. Through this lens, Newt sees her only escape from her fear is to return to space and confront the alien. She isn’t facing that reality while trapped in the hospital. She’s living a falsehood. Hicks is the closest thing to family she has left, and she calls out to him in the darkness.

Hicks stumbles out of a brothel, clasping a bottle of liquor in his hand. He’s beating himself up over the disaster on LV-426, and is ready for his chance at revenge. He’s struggling with Newt being confined in the mental hospital, but ultimately decides to leave her behind. Hicks’ volatility rears its head with Colonel Stephens, the ranking officer on the mission. He doesn’t want Hicks involved. He also orders Hicks to remove powerful weapons from their ship, the Beckett, despite our hero’s warning. Hicks isn’t wrong, but you can’t blame Stephens for not trusting him.

After a very 80s looking rendition of future video game technology, corporate executives deliver some exposition about their plans to secretly interrupt Hicks’ mission. We are introduced to the over-the-top evil Massey, a corporate agent. He is a sociopath, and enjoys killing, with a bloody history in the Colonial Marines. Massey’s son stumbles upon an unsecured communication about the alien, and he murders the boy and his wife to keep it confidential. He covers it up as a robbery gone bad. The executive states it must be liberating to be free from conscience. Verheiden is turning the “You know, Burke, I don’t know which species is worse. You don’t see them screwing each other for a fucking percentage.” dial up.

Hicks is now training the new squad of Colonial Marines for the mission. They remind Hicks of his dead comrades, but he pushes the emotions away. He doesn’t want to let himself get attached to the new squad. Hicks submits them to grueling preparation. The creative team stumbles slightly here. Hicks is putting the soldiers through conventional warfare preparation, complete with distinct battle lines and gunfire. Verheiden could have shown Hicks teaching the soldiers to hunt, or battle against swarming synthetics to better prepare the marines for the alien.

As a last resort, Newt is going to be lobotomized to control her behavior. Hicks hacks into the hospital network, and discovers her scheduled procedure. In a scene that evokes Kyle Reese from Terminator, Hicks storms the hospital, and rescues Newt. He puts her aboard the Beckett and they embark on their mission.

Nelson continues to deliver a lived in world. He manages to make it seem vibrant in a black and white medium. One small, but nice detail is the puff of exhaust and smoke from the emergency craft in a panel with a distant view of the cityscape. Bullet holes eject smoke and debris horizontally from the wall as Hicks rushes down a corridor. The Benedict, has a little bit of the dropship aesthetic, but feels more organic, again reminding me of Moebius.

Some of the character art can feel squished in a panel or two, such as when Hicks is confronted by Col. Stephens. Stylistically, I don’t care much for their gear. I would have preferred to see traditional marine armor and weapons, but Verheiden and Nelson approached the ten year gap by portraying those items as being outdated and replaced. Considering how many decades military technology is utilized in the real world, I think it would have been fine to have the movie aesthetic. It’s also likely that in 1988, the iconic status of the M41-A Pulse Rifle, APC, drop ship and the smartgun hadn’t established itself yet.

Verheiden has introduced us to a few new characters, and has progressed the plot. Hicks has now gathered a team, resources, and a transport to carry out his personal quest. He’s also rescued the one person he still cares about. Newt’s living hell has provided context for fear and dread, but now she is free of the medication. Where will her character go from here? Massey has been shown to be a sociopath, but what kind of a threat will he be? The marines are barely introduced as characters. Are they cannon fodder or are we going to learn about them in the next issue? The alien threat doesn’t make an appearance except in a vision of the queen and the eggs in a flashback, but its presence still permeates the pages through the anticipation of the executives to acquire a sample, through Hicks determination to exact revenge, and through the misery of Newt in her mental state.

Final Review: Highly Recommend

REVIEW BY: SCOTT

Aliens #1 1988 (From the Aliens 30th Anniversary Hardcover)

If you are reading this review, it is likely I don’t have to explain how great the first two Alien films are. In the late 1980s, Aliens merchandise was sparse compared to today. Even more so for an eight-year old boy. Thankfully, Dark Horse Comics produced not only one of the finer Aliens stories, but created a fantastic title for the entire comic book genre. The days of multiple Alien stories each month were blooming, and a toy line aimed at 10 year olds, based on the penis-headed monstrosities, was swirling through a Kenner toy exec’s thought processes.

Aliens #1 picks up ten years after the events of the film, Aliens. Newt is a mental patient, suffering from nightmares over her ordeal on LV-426. She can’t escape the terror. Her stress induced outbursts are only met with more medication, and hopelessness has taken over her mind.

Hicks has been busted down to Lance Corporal. He was a polished soldier before his unit was wiped out. Now he has been trapped in a quagmire of his own fear and survivor’s guilt. He also has nightmares of the Hadley’s Hope disaster, and is haunted by nightmares of his dead comrades. He abuses alcohol, and is prone to violence. When Hicks is introduced, he isn’t the Sergeant or General he could have been. Hicks is recovering from a hangover in the brig after being arrested for being drunk and disorderly.

Meanwhile, a death cult has centered around the alien, and is trying to brainwash followers through broadcasts. The death cult is okay, but the brainwashing by beaming directly into the brains of people doesn't exactly mesh well with the Alien universe. It’s my least favorite aspect and would have been more fitting in a Star Trek or Dr. Who story. It does make for a workable way to get the plot to progress.

An alien has slaughtered the crew of a mystery ship, and a coast guard vessel is destroyed when it comes into contact with the derelict. The black box transmission from the destroyed vessels reveal not only the presence of the xenomorph, but also the Alien homeworld. Specimen’s are required, and Hicks is given a chance at redemption by a company agent. Before Hicks embarks on his journey, he visits Newt to let her know he is going to face the creatures again. The visit quickly turns for the worse as Hicks see Newt dragged away and the visit is terminated.

Mark Nelson’s art is simple, but very effective. The black and white style contributes to the emotion of the story. The later colorized versions suffer a little in this respect. His cover art is eye catching, again looking better in black and white than the released color covers. Nelson’s xenomorphs are some of the best comic depictions of the beasts. His space vessels are reminiscent of the art of Moebius, and full of rich detail. Small details in the panels help the world feel lived in. Overturned coffee cups, bullet holes, and ravaged corpses litter the derelict, reflecting the chaos that broke out there. The twisted, nightmarish versions of the xenomorphs likely inspired many of the monsters of 90’s comics.

Mark Verheiden does a great job of setting the theme of fear, failure, hopelessness, dread, and the unknown. Sprinkle in some religious and monetary zealotry and you have a grade A comic book. As the final panel closes, curiosity and anticipation for the next issue is at an apex. What will the Alien homeworld look like? How is Hicks going to get there? What is going to happen to Newt? Is she going to be trapped in the mental hospital with her nightmares? Can Hicks face the monsters again and survive?

Final Review: Highly Recommend

REVIEW BY: SCOTT